ICYMI: Sedgewick Arena closed indefinitely due to structural concerns
The Sedgewick Arena was closed to the public for an undisclosed period of time after a special meeting of Council was held on Monday, Dec. 9.
The closure came after Sedgewick CAO Jim Fedyk received the written results from testing a few key support beams to see whether surface rust had permeated the actual structure of the metal.
Fedyk says Associated Engineering had also received copies of the test results, and called him right away with an interpretation of the results, which showed a uniform loss of approximately 25 per cent of the strength of the purlins (structural beams and girders) that were tested.
Fedyk says, “The engineer also told me that he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if the arena was not closed due to these results.
“It’s a safety issue, we have no other choice but to close.”
Mayor Perry Robinson stated, “As it is Council’s number one priority to secure the safety and well-being of our citizens, we are left with no other choices in the end.”
Programming at the arena will be moved to neighbouring facilities in the interim.
Fedyk has since done some independent research into similar situations. He discovered that there are instances of arenas collapsing throughout North America, many involving injuries and deaths of employees and even children. He says in 2018 the Fairview Arena in Calgary collapsed, prompting the city to test all other arenas for structural integrity. He would strongly recommend that neighbouring arenas do the same.
“This wasn’t just a leakage issue, it was a lot of factors that combined, including insulation problems, condensation, HVAC issues, and more.”
Fedyk says it’s not something that can be determined visually. He says that even the firm who performed the test on the beams initially said they didn’t think the rust damage was as bad as it looked.
It wasn’t until the detailed findings were summarized that the true extent of the damage was revealed.
Fedyk says it’s fairly common knowledge that the arena roof has leaked since it was rebuilt in 1992 after a fire destroyed the previous building.
He says when he came on the scene, no one really knew the exact reason for the leak.
“Wherever possible we used local experts to mitigate and repair the leak. The town has tried to find the best, most responsible solution to the issue in the past.”
When roofing and engineering firms were in Sedgewick after this summer’s fire at Central High Sedgewick Public School, the Town took advantage of the experts on hand and asked them to also inspect the arena roofing.
A representative from Phoenix Roofing proposed that a rooftop inspection be done.
Fedyk says that inspection revealed long seams the length of the roof that had never been properly finished or filled.
He says that when the inspector moved inside the building and asked if he could see where the water was coming in, he noted the extremely rusty beams overhead, saying it was the worst he’d ever seen. …
(read further details in the latest CP)
Further information will be released once the full scope of the issue is known.
Fedyk says, “Cory and Mike closed down the rink on Monday afternoon and contacted the user groups.
